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	Podcast:		UC Science Today
	Episode:		The pros and cons of mind wandering
	Category:		Science & Medicine
	Duration:		00:01:01
	Publish Date:		2016-12-16 18:00:00
	Description:		How many times a day does your mind start to wander? Now, be honest; it probably happens a lot. Jonathan Schooler, a professor of psychological and brain sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara, studies what actually goes on when this occurs. "There are three general categories of things we’ve looked at, in terms of mind wandering. The first is its costs. How does mind wandering interfere with peoples’ abilities in various different situations? And we find that it’s quite costly. That if people have mind wandering while reading, that it substantially interferes with their ability to process and remember what they’ve read." If that’s the case, why do people do it so much? Schooler says one reason is it’s helpful for creativity. "We’ve been looking at creative scientists and creative writers and looking to see when they have their creative ideas about a third of their ideas happened while they’re mind wandering." So, if your mind wandered during this episode, hopefully it’s because you just had an ‘ah-ha!’ moment!
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